1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to improvements in adhesive bandages or wound dressings and particularly to bandages that would be attractive and entertaining for children.
2. Description of Prior Art
Adhesive bandages come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They are used to cover and protect wounds such as cuts, abrasions, punctures, and other forms of wounds inflicted on human tissue such as the skin of the arms, legs, hands, and other parts of the human body. Typically, an adhesive bandage comprises a flexible backing with an adhesive surface for attaching the bandage to the skin. Most, but not all, of these bandages have a patch of gauze or absorbent material disposed at the center of the adhesive surface. Such adhesive bandages are well-known and staple items in a first-aid kit or medicine cabinet.
In recent years, several bandage manufacturers have attempted to make bandages more attractive and entertaining, particularly to children, by the addition of colorful designs and imprinted animals and cartoon characters. Other bandages have come in fun shapes such as hearts or kissing lips. All of these bandages, though, have remained two-dimensional. These flat representations do not engage a child's imagination as readily as a three-dimensional toy representation of the character, animal, or object.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,338 to Lemelson (1981) describes a protective cover for a bandage and includes a three-dimensional figure as one of its embodiments, but the figure is made from a molded plastic resinous material. A hard cover for a bandage may bruise, scrape, or otherwise injure the child to which it is applied or another individual with whom the child is playing. Since it is hard and three-dimensional, it is also likely to catch on objects such as chairs and tables and prematurely fall off of the child.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,296 to Schaar (1980) describes a bandage with a three-dimensional protective member made of foam material. This bandage is designed only for protection and does not specify any playful figure shapes that would be entertaining for a child.